Young Authors Writing Contest explores themes of communication

Communication in all its forms — digital, printed, verbal, silent — proved a compelling topic for the participants in the Bay Area Book Festival’s annual Young Authors Writing Contest.

Cindy Xin, a junior at Albany High School, took first place in the 11th/12th grade division for “Lake Water,” a story about the disconnect — and deep ties — between a young woman and her deeply religious, Chinese-immigrant father who is diagnosed with a serious illness. Some of the elements are autobiographical, she said, explaining her parents immigrated first to Canada and then to the United States from China.

“However, some more specific details regarding the role of Christianity in Chinese immigrants' lives and the relationship between parents and children who grow up in different cultures are taken from what I've observed in the community,” noted Xin, 16.

The winner of a place in a weeklong Writopia Lab summer workshop, she said she hopes to become a published author after double-majoring in English and psychology.

Merit Onyekwere, 14, of Richmond won first place in the 9th/10th grade division for “five times when i catch myself alive,’’ a semi-autobiographical reflection on growing up as the daughter of Nigerian immigrants.

Describing her mother, she writes, “If you listen closely, you can still hear bits of her Igbo tongue creep through her smooth vowels and subtle cadences. She sounds American, but a bit too American. Like she shoved herself into the thin confines of the English language and cut off tiny pieces of her culture to seem more acclimated.”

A 9th grader at Middle College High School in San Jose, Onyekwere said writing is her “favorite hobby,” although she doesn’t necessarily plan on being published.

“I'm passionate about a lot of different things, so it's difficult to decide which passion to pursue,” she said.

Arushi Avachat, a junior at Pleasanton’s Foothill High School, won 2nd place in the 11th/12th grade division for “Conversations with God,” about a Southern girl’s gradual loss of faith. A junior at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, Carolyne Geng earned 3rd place for “Adrianne, or Panic Incarnate,” about the rocky romance of the daughter of Chinese immigrants with her French classmate.

Yawen Xue, in the 9th grade at Mission San Jose High School in Fremont, won second place in the 9th/10th grade division for “The Coldest Summer,” a science fiction tale involving aliens from Venus whose message to Earthlings is not well received. Fiona Lamperti, a 9th grader at St. Mary’s College High School in Berkeley, took third place for “When It’s Dark,” a dramatic account of therapy sessions that reveal a dark secret.

First-place winners receive $100, second $75 and third $50; they are also invited to read their works at the awards ceremony at 11 a.m. May 5 on the Word Power Stage. The stories are online at www.baybookfest.org/yawc.